Archive from January 2002

3:50 PM - "Original" Pirates soundtrack? (posted by Allen )
Does anyone out there have any OLD copies of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song? I'd like to find someone who has the old record soundtrack album from Disneyland. The reason I ask is due to a line that I believe was removed from the song years ago. I specifically remember (as a child) a mention of the word "rape" in the original song. This was edited out years ago, and since the internet didn't exist there wasn't a big controversy or "P.C." attack on Disney for doing it. I've never had any "proof" of this other than my memory, but during my recent Disneyland visit I heard a guy in front of me telling his girlfriend about the line, so we chatted a bit. We both remember it from our youth. Does anyone else remember this? Please drop me an e-mail if you have a copy of the original Pirates theme song.

7:54 PM - Trip Reports and Inge's DLP Site... (posted by Allen )
First, Inge would like everyone to visit her Disneyland Paris page. She has some good pics from Phantom Manor and Pirates.

http://dlpfans.disneyfans.com

Second, I've posted a brief update from my January 2002 visit in my Disneyland and California Adventure sections. I'll fill in more details if I get the time.

1:49 AM - DisneyFans.com photos used in a brochure! (posted by Allen )
A few of my photos have been used in a brochure (with my permission, of course). To read more about it, please click on the "[more...]".

7:04 PM - Dana Daniels (posted by Allen )
Drop by www.danadaniels.com and check out the home page for the magician/comedian/gravity tester that performs during the week at the Golden Horseshoe in Disneyland. His "one man show" (which features him, a piano player, and a parrot...) has been running for years and his page talks about all the things he's done with Disney through the years. It's a good read, and he's a funny guy.

3:04 PM - Post-trip report and Jim Hill... (posted by Allen )
Okay, my two DLR weekend visits are now over and I'll try to get the new photos online at some point in the future. The photo program I use is currently unable to get through making the galleries for me so I'll have to come up with another approach.

Overall, I enjoyed my brief visits very much. Disneyland has so much closed for rehab right now. This gave me a chance to visit Tom Sawyers Island (which I had not done in awhile) and find out what all has been closed down there (I had no idea!). In a way, I am glad things were slow at the park because otherwise I would not have taken the time to explore some of the lesser visited areas like I did.

DCA was a different story. I had a total blast there. I spent one day mostly lounging around from place to place watching live entertainment. I think I finally "get" that park the way they designed us to get it. I think I spent more time hanging out at DCA than I did over at Disneyland. No regrets! I'll post more in the Disneyland section of this site shortly.

Be sure to check out the new Jim Hill article up at DCA Central. Go to http://www.dcacentral.com/dca/jim_hill/index.asp and take a read.

12:12 AM - Go away. We're closed. (posted by Allen )
After getting stopped by the parade, I fought my way over to DL. It had good crowds too. A jazz/brass band played in N'Orleans and the train I boarded there was headed for the round house. The day was winding down so I headed out to avoid the 10pm mass exodus crowds. I found a $39 hotel right down from the parking structure... Goodnight!

9:04 PM - Night falls... (posted by Allen )
Around 5pm the lines to enter DCA were actually longer than the DL lines even though DCA had more gates open! Things continue to be busy as the crowds arrive to see the Electrical Parade at the 8pm park closing. I have a FastPass to use on Screamin' and then I plan to head over to DL until it closes at 10pm.

6:07 PM - Crowded. (posted by Allen )
The crowds still seem heavy. "Groove 66" performed in front of Golden Dreams to a lively audience. The mariachi band in Pacific Warf also does a great version of "Tequila!" This is a good day, made even better with a glass of Moscotto Bianco at the winery. Thanks, Karin! By the way, my vote for best DCA restroom is the one in Hollywood - it has music :)

4:30 PM - A DCA day. (posted by Allen )
When I arrived at the Entrance Plaza at 11:30am, ticket lines were packed and DCA lines were deep and out past the letters. Things seem real busy today at DCA, and I imagine even moreso at DL. There are some amazing acrobat-ish guys (Jamaican?) that everyone should check out, and the street band is a total crowd pleaser. I really like DCA!

12:31 PM - Saturday swing. (posted by Allen )
Bistro Elizabeth showed up (finally) and Steve and I got to meet her swing dance partner over dinner in Frontierland. After the band shut down, we joined them again for a trip on Space Mountain.

Sunday begins...

7:32 PM - Not me. I guess. (posted by Allen )
I still suck at Millionaire...

2:45 PM - Picking up... (posted by Allen )
Well, things have really picked up at DCA! Short waits at the rides, but enough people around to feel busy. The beer wagon opened so now one more thing is good in the world :) My friend Steve (who contributed to my Disney addiction) should be meeting up with me in the next few hours. Good day, great weather. Now if only I could get into Club 33...

12:46 PM - The quest for food... (posted by Allen )
After failing to find any non-sit down food at DL (and a "walk on" ride on Indy), I decided to try DCA. It was 30 mins before official opening and they had already been letting folks in. Condor Flats was open, but the Pier and Golden State opened at 10. Only pastries in the train were available, so I waited until 10 and had a huge breakfast sandwich at the Warf (10 percent A.P. discount). Very low crowds at both parks, but the day is young...

10:29 AM - In the beginning... (posted by Allen )
Hello from the John Wayne airport in Orange County, California... Wow, luggage got here fast...

And my car was waiting for me...

8:37am and I'm already on thc tram! Good start to the day, eh?

10:20 PM - Another Disneyland weekend... (posted by Allen )
I'll be visiting the Disneyland Resort again this weekend so drop me a note if you have any photo requests. I'll check mail from my PCS phone from time to time.

The theme parks are under major rehab right now. The Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Small World, Mr. Toad, Peter Pan, Mulholland Madness and Superstar Limo are some of the attractions that are down right now. I checked out Tom Sawyer Island this past weekend and was suprised to find most of the fort off limits (the upper level, and one side has had its windows covered). The last time I visited the fort was just after the accident (when they removed the guns).

Still, even with all the closures, there was still plenty to do, though my goal of making some new home movies of all the dark rides will have to wait until they are actually open. (I did get Alice in Wonderland, Pinnochio and Snow White, though.) More to come...

7:19 PM - Disneyland on a Sunday (posted by Allen )
Another great day at DL. Lots of rides in rehab right now, but still tons to do. Much street entertainment and characters - is this off season? Perfect weather, too.

2:15 PM - Greetings from California! (posted by Allen )
Hello from Disneyland Resort! Live updates over the next two weekends. Photo requests, anyone?

6:49 PM - Home movies available... (posted by Allen )
As a test, some of my home movies from Disney trips will be available on my FTP and WEB servers. Please try one of these links and let me know if it does or does not work for you. If it does not work, tell me what OS and web browser you are using. Thanks!

FTP: ftp://disneyfans.dnsalias.org/pub/

WEB: http://disneyfans.dnsalias.org:6809/video/

Enjoy!

11:42 PM - Jim Hill moves to DCA Central (posted by Allen )
Columnist Jim Hill (formerly of Laughing Place, formerly of Mouse Planet) now has a new home at DCA Central. His columns are some of my favorite things to read on the Internet. If you've never checked them out, drop by today by clicking on "more"... -->

12:56 AM - Disneyland Source offline! (posted by Allen )
The most excellent media site, Disneyland Source (http://disneylandsource.com), is offline right now. Chris Lang's hosting fees were very substantial for just a "hobby" and apparently his host decided to raise prices due to the volume of traffic his site gets. Drop by an see his message.

3:56 PM - Videos temporarily offline... (posted by Allen )
Until we figure out what is causing the server delays, I have taken the large video files offline. Of course, unless you are on the annoucement list you never had access to them anyway so I probably should have just send out a note to the list members. Ah... I'll try to have the videos back soon (or make them available by special request).

9:21 PM - Over 16,000 photos... (posted by Allen )
With the addition of Disneyland pictures from December 2001, my photo album now contains over 16,000 images. I am currently trying to get the galleries updated but there have been some problems. I'm having a dreadful time convincing the commercial programs I use to properly handle this many photos! Surely I can't be the only one on the 'net with a gallery this big, can I??? Anyway, I'll keep working on this during the coming week and hopefully I can get everything updated... just in time for me to take another trip and add new photos. (Taking pictures is easy, but sometimes I wonder why I bother going through all the trouble to get my photos online ;) Happy 2002, everybody!

8:58 PM - Upcoming Disneyland Resort visit... again... (posted by Allen )
I'm going to be working in San Jose the week of January 14th so I decided to arrange my travel so I can drop South to Disneyland on the weekends of January 12-13 and the extended weekend of January 19-21. If there are any special photo or video requests, click on my name and send me an e-mail. (Feel free to do the same if you are going to be there during either of those weekends and you'd like to meet up for lunch or something.)

2:07 PM - Over 1000 new photos... (posted by Allen )
Those who are on my mailing list knew about this a few weeks ago, but I thought I'd share it with everyone else now since I haven't had time to update the main gallery yet. A batch of Disneyland Resort photos is available in a temporary directory (do not link to or book mark this location -- it will change). You may check them out by clicking on "more" -->

2:21 AM - Testing. . . (posted by Allen )
I am testing some new enhancements to the news layout. The category icons are not quite formatting like I'd like them to, but I think I can fix that. Stay tuned...

1:02 AM - DL Marching Band video... (posted by Allen )
It's opening time for Disneyland. You step through the turnstyles and look up at the train station. A locomotive pulls in for its first load of the day. The Disneyland Marching Band strikes up a song to welcome you to the Happiest Place on Earth. This video clip demonstrates that the magic is alive and well.

12:54 AM - DL Club Buzz show video... (posted by Allen )
The cute Tomorrowland Buzz Lightyear show may be geared for young kids, but I found it pretty funny (especially the comments from the green guys). A home movie of the full show has been done.

9:11 PM - DCA LuminAria Christmas show video... (posted by Allen )
The new lagoon fireworks show at DCA was certainly not all that it could be, so if it returns next year I suspect we'll see some changes. I now have an encoded movie of the show from December 2001.

9:09 PM - DCA Superstar Limo ride video... (posted by Allen )
Since this ride is going to change sometime soon (?) I decided to tape it during my recent visit to Disneyland's California Adventure. A complete ride through of this cool (to me, but not to most folks) dark ride is now available.

9:09 PM - WDW Pirate Parot video... (posted by Allen )
Virtually everyone agrees that the WDW version of Pirates of the Caribbean is a shallow copy of the Disneyland original, but most do accept that the queue area is far more impressive. At their entrance is an animatronic parot, complete with tatoo, eyepatch, pirate hat and peg leg. I digitized about a minute of video of the parot speech, in case anyone wants to check it out.

11:55 PM - New Video Gallery coming soon... (posted by Allen )
I will soon be opening a new video gallery section (not to be confused with the old "new" video gallery which contains the mpeg audio and video clips). You can take a sneak peek by visiting http://disneyfans.com/video/index.htm or clicking on "more" -->

6:20 PM - WDW Tomorroland Transit Authority ride video... (posted by Allen )
I've just encoded an entire ride on the WDW TTA (11 minutes). It will be uploaded shortly.

4:41 PM - WDW Peter Pan ride video... (posted by Allen )
A ride through of WDW's Peter Pan is now available. Once again, the link is available from my announcement list. I will put together a video gallery later on and link it to this site.

2:15 PM - WDW Winnie the Pooh ride video... (posted by Allen )
Happy 2002! The first new addition to this site for 2002 is a ride through of the Winnie the Pooh ride attraction at WDW.